1150. The Saints / (I'm) Stranded. 1977. 4/5

The Saints was founded in Brisbane in 1973 as Kid Galahad and the Eternals, consisting of lead singer Chris Bailey, guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay. In their early days, like a lot of Australian pub rock that was beginning to break through they found their own style and with it a burgeoning audience. What they began employing was a sound that had fast tempo, raucous vocals and a guitar with lots of distortion which set them apart from other bands at the time. Indeed, by 1974 when they had renamed themselves The Saints their reputation was beginning to precede them. While the band themselves had been inspired by such acts as Little Richards and Elvis Presley, they had other inklings from bands like The Stooges and MC5. It was the style though, the faster more raucous style of their songs that was what started their influential days. Kuepper explained that when the band played live, they tended to get faster and faster through their nerves in front of audiences. Indeed, Ian McFarlane the Australian rock historian wrote that the band had developed their own distinctive sound, defined by Kuepper’s frenetic whirlwind guitar style and Bailey’s arrogant snarl.In June 1976, the Saints recorded two tracks, "(I'm) Stranded" and "No Time". Unable to find any interested label, they formed Fatal Records and independently released their debut single in September. They sent the single to radio stations and magazines in Australia with almost no interest, and United Kingdom where a small label issued the single. Sounds magazine's reviewer, John Ingham, declared it, "Single of this and every week". Following this, EMI head office in London contacted the Sydney branch and directed that they be signed to a three-album contract.
Over two days in December 1976, the group recorded their first LP, (I'm) Stranded, with Rod Coe producing. They supported AC/DC in late December 1976 and, early in 1977, relocated to Sydney, in the hope of eternal fame.

The Saints have been referred to as one of the first punk bands. They are contemporaries of The Ramones who began around the same time, and when (I'm) Stranded was released in the UK, it became one of the forerunners of the genre, pre-dating the albums of the UK punk scene by bands such as The Clash, the Damned and the Sex Pistols, and it was the lead single and opening track of the album, the eponymous “I’m Stranded” that pushed that, containing all of the elements that make the best punk rock songs. It’s not an easy thing for any band when the first song from their first album, which doubled as the band’s first single, is still the most renown and recognisable song that the band has produced. But while that is true in this situation, it doesn’t mean that it is the only great song on the album. And, that the classifying of it as a pure punk rock album would be premature.
Sure, there are those songs, of which "I’m Stranded" is one of the standouts. “One Way Street” backs it up superbly, rattling along in a way that even now you can visualise just how the moshpits at the front of the stage would have been a sea of bodies throwing themselves around while listening to it. The cover version of the Missing Links song “Wild About You” is terrific, a thrashy hard core version that exudes such violent energy it is contagious.

On the other side of the coin, there is a song like “Messin’ With the Kid”, one that for me doesn’t fit the profile, and yet is not the last time I heard such tones in a punk album or song. If you listen to this song, and then listen to some of the slower, changeup songs from bands such as The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers, you will find the roots of those songs in this song. It even brings me memories of songs by REM and Joy Division and the like. At almost six minutes it is also the longest song on the album, and feels longer because it is the same riff throughout, the antithesis of a real form punk song. In my opinion. And one I could skip every time it comes on. It really halts the momentum of the album, something made even more obvious once you crash back into “Erotic Neurotic”, with the pace picking up again, and the fact the one riff runs through the song not so important because of the energy and short lived song time. All of this continues on with great tracks like “No Time”, “Kissin’ Cousins”, “Demolition Girl” and the closer “Nights in Venice”. “Story of Love” breaks up these songs by once again dropping the tempo and trying to be something else. And in the long run perhaps it and “Messin’ With he Kids” were songs that allowed the band and the fans to catch their breath at gigs, but they both feel out of place on an album that sets itself up as something completely separate from what they offer.

It seems as though I have been aware of this album for most of my life, and certainly heard pieces of it in high school, but didn’t really listen to it all the way through myself until 20 odd years ago, and it wasn’t until then that I could hear just what it was that has been deemed as so influential to the genre. It’s interesting that The Saints ended up relocating to the UK after the luke warm response to their efforts to record. Once in the UK though, EMI had wanted to promote them as a typical punk band, with the old spiked hairstyle and ripped jeans and the link. But the band was not interested in that, and wanted to retain the style they had, the Australia pub band style of jeans and shirts.
Beyond that, the band didn’t stick to the style that had got them their break. Their next album was more of an R&B style, including a song using a brass section, trying to escape what they felt was the pigeon-holing effect of the punk style.
I first heard the album as a part of a mixed-tape that circulated amongst our school group in the mid-1980’s, which was one of my first exposures to a wider punk community. And even then, although the album has a sound that is punk-derived, is it really that? The fact that The Saints are Australian and were developing those songs and style away from the sound that The Ramones had already developed in the US, and what was just about to explode in the UK, the fact that its foundation are the Australian pub rock scene do tend to give it an extra bite that perhaps otherwise it would not have had. It wasn’t pushed by the kind of look that the UK punk scene thrived on in the years following its release, the band themselves retained the ‘look’ that they had grown up watching and then built up as a result.

I put on this album now, and, apart from those two songs which I’ve mentioned, the kind of songs that always turn my stomach no matter who the artist is or what genre they come from, this is still a great listen. It stands as a moment in time, one that is still so highly thought of that it was one of only 8 albums that had a retrospective made on it on the TV series Great Australian Albums.
How many of you have actually heard this album? Sat down and listened to it? If you have any enjoyment of this genre of music it is one worth searching out and experiencing.

1149. Live / Secret Samadhi. 1997. 3/5

Live is another band that started at school, this one all the way back in 1984, vocalist Ed Kowalcyzk joining the band after the original trio of lead guitarist Chad Taylor, bass guitarist Patrick Dahlheimer and drummer Chad Gracey lost a talent quest. And, like many of these same bands for whom ‘overnight success’ took a decade or more to develop, it was the hard work along the way that built the band up to what they became. And it was this that, from an outsiders perspective, kept them grounded enough to continue chasing that dream. They self released cassettes of demo songs, and eventually an EP as well, until they were eventually signed by Radioactive Records. Having played under the name of Public Affection it was now they changed their name to Live. Their debut album Mental Jewelry in 1991 contained the minor single hit "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)". But it wasn’t until 1994’s Throwing Copper that the band truly made their mark, and around the world. Several hit singles, long tours, and, after 52 weeks on the US charts, it finally went to number 1.After all of this success, as with all albums such as their previous release, trying to come up with an album that could equal or top it must have been a daunting task, and the desire to prove that they were not one hit wonders, and could produce something else that would surprise and delight the music listening world, would have been a huge one, I would imagine. Given the success of the previous album, they were afforded a bigger production budget and more time in which to write and record, something that can often cause more problems than not. And, whereas Throwing Copper had been produced by the renown producer Jerry Harrison, who had also been a member of Talking Heads, the band for this album decided to bring back Jay Healey as producer, who had been in charge of their first ever self-released cassette. Was this in an effort to ‘rediscover’ or return to their roots, or were they looking to make a statement that it was not the clean and sharp production that Harrison had performed for Throwing Copper that had made it so popular, and that they could reproduce that by utilising the tricks of their youth?

From the outset of the album, there is a difference from what Throwing Copper had produced. At the time, I had never heard their first album, and once I had had this album for a while I wondered if this was closer to that style. To be honest I still don’t have an answer to that. However, all fans of the band will know the opening of “Rattlesnake” and “Lakini’s Juice”, given the amount of airplay they received when they were released as singles from the album. There is a good energy from both.
From this point on, I get a little lost. “Graze” sits right back in tempo with the old alternative guitar distortion riff that runs through the whole song. “Century” and “Ghost” at times appear to be the same song, with the intertwined tempo and guitar riff similarly able to be confused between the two. And both “Unsheathed” and “Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe” don’t really get going until halfway through the song, it’s just a really strange way to go about it.
“Turn My Head” was released as a single and the format and arrangement of the song indicates why it was. The soft rock ballad, with accompanying string arrangements throughout, is a natural to pluck at the heartstrings of the masses, and hopefully pluck the dollars out of their wallets too. So for the fans of those songs out there, this one was for you. But for me, it just doesn’t grab me at all. Surprise surprise! long time listeners to this podcast will cry out! Instead, the next song, “Heropsychodreamer”, is 100% better when it comes to the best that the band can deliver. A brilliant bass line, well supported by a great guitar riff and hard hitting drums, and Ed’s vocals not crooning but belting out the lyrics. This is still the song that should have been the basis of this album for me. Short and sharp, but with power and drive. “Freaks” is another of the singles, and is also a mixed bag, starting off slow before building to a harder crescendo at its conclusion. And the final two songs of the album are really… easy listening tracks. If you want to have something on in the background while you are reading and/or drifting off to sleep, then the back half of this album, apart from the aforementioned “Heropsychodreamer”, is probably the ideal thing to throw on. And of course there is a market for this, and perhaps the fans of Live think these are the bees knees. But as someone who came into the band on the back of the energy and vitality of the previous album, it becomes a little disappointing as we reach the conclusion of this album.

I bought this album on that first week it was released, 25 years ago. Throwing Copper was one of a number of albums I bought back in 1995 when I was going through a rough period of my life, and it along with those other albums got me through it. And there is little doubt that I still hold it in such high regard because of that time and how the magic of music helped… save me. So Secret Samadhi had a lot to live up to in that regard alone, let alone just backing up a great album. And it was always on the back foot. The single “Lakini’s Juice” had come out just before this, and it wasn’t exactly what I had been looking for, and the music video was just whacked out, I still don’t have a clue what they were hoping to achieve with it.
I had a lot of trouble getting into this album, and I never actually succeeded in doing so. I gave it a fair run at the time of its release, but to be fair it was up against some other albums I had a lot more fascination with so it probably went on the backburner pretty quickly. And that was all a matter of musical taste. In comparison to The Offspring’s “Ixnay on the Hombre” for instance, it simply didn’t stand a chance. My major problem with the album was the lack of a real drive in the majority of the songs. It felt as though it was the wrong era for the album to have been written. Compare it to their next album, The Distance to Here, which ironically saw the return of Jerry Harrison as producer, and it highlights the weaknesses overall of this album. The songs for me just don’t have the same power or even arrangement as the albums that sandwich it. There are a few moments as I’ve mentioned, but the rest is a bit… blah. I pulled it out again some years later, probably over a decade ago now, just to see if time had mellowed my opinion or I had missed something at the time, or had my thoughts coloured by other music. And, in the end, I discovered I still felt the same way about it. This week, I have done that again, for the benefit of this podcast episode. And, 25 years later, as I sat here just listening to the album and not trying to judge it, but just allow myself to listen to it, I probably do find it more enjoyable now than I did then. And I do! The closing track, “Gas Hed Goes West” never ever attracted me, in fact I used to think it was a terrible way to end the album, but over the last week I have listened to that track more than a dozen times, and now in my advanced age I think it is a terrific song. But back then I was in my 20’s, and now I am in my 50’s. And to be fair I think that is where this album digresses. I’m pretty sure they weren’t aiming this album at 50 year olds all those years ago, but I feel it actually can be appreciated better by them. At least, by 50 year olds who are looking for a quiet album to nod off to rather than an album to jump around to.

1148. The Offspring / Ixnay on the Hombre. 1997. 4.5/5

When Smash had been released and that first single “Come Out and Play” had been released and was tsunamied on radio airplay, it encouraged me to go out and buy the album. And, I loved it. Played it to death. Knew all the words, which even by that time of my life was becoming a novelty time did not always allow. And I think it is significant that the band was not an overnight sensation. Sure, most people who got into the band did so on that Smash album and felt as though they had come out of nowhere, but they had already been together for ten years prior to it, and had also released albums before this, so the sound they came out with was one they had been curating for some time. It was a unique one, with high octane vocals, energetic guitars and drums, and that infusion of a modernised punk and alternative sound that provided a counter punch to the end days of grunge and the beginnings of industrial metal.When it came to the release of their follow up album, because of the success of Smash and having signed for a major label the band not only had a recording studio available to them for a stretch of time they had more time available in which to write and record. Probably the biggest question going into this album, certainly from my own perspective as a one-album fan, was in what direction the new songs would go. Because the music world was still fluxing, and sometimes the success of an album can influence the next one in ways that don’t always work. Given the commercial success would the band look to go further down that lie with their songs, or would they stick to their roots and perhaps further the songs in a modern punk style. It was a three year gap between albums, enough time during the 1990’s for the popular music style to have changed completely. Which it had. And yet the best bands were able to find a way to negotiate that and keep themselves relevant. Ixnay on the Hombre managed to do that.

The Offspring began a trend of theirs with monologues on their albums, and what better way to open an album that to have the legendary Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedy’s fame doing so to open their new album. “Disclaimer” perfectly sums up the attitude of band when it comes to the “Parental Advisory” stickers than some bands were forced to have on their CDs because of some of the language used or the subject matter of the lyrics of certain songs. A perfect riposte delivered by one of the best in the business.
The album then kicks off for real with the brilliant “The Meaning of Life”, setting the tone for the album to come. Now for me, what makes this album is the groove that comes from the track list. The songs come at you at different tempos and somewhat different styles, but it is the groove of the album that connects it all together. The faster tempo of the opening tracks “The Meaning of Life” and “Mota” still flow nicely and uninterrupted into the next level of “Me and My Old Lady” and “Cool to Hate” because of the terrific groove created by Ron Welty’s drums and Greg K’s brilliant bass lines, still for me the absolute highlights of the album. The bass guitar dominates every song, not only creating the base around which each song is constructed but then leading the song’s direction. Most of the attention comes from Dexter Holland’s unique vocal abilities along with Noodles great backing and harmony vocals, and their great partnership on guitars, but for me it is the bass that has been the best aspect of the majority of the songs here since its release. Then the terrific tempo change in the middle of “Cool to Hate”, still one of my favourite Offspring songs, and the lyrics throughout… I wish this song had been written when I was at school, it would have been my anthem. I’m sure it was for so many who were at school when this album was released.
Then you have the two main singles off the album, which although I still enjoy to this day are not really the best songs on the album, and to me that usually coincides with the ultimate strength of the album, the fact that the songs released for radio airplay to garner popularity of the masses are actually not even the best songs of the album itself. “Gone Away” and “All I Want” definitely sit in this bracket, songs that are good to listen to but if I’m gong to watch The Offspring there are probably five other songs on the album I’d rather hear first. And then there is the superb closing track, four and a half minutes long just to prove that they are capable of extending themselves, without losing their intensity and hard core fist pumping and fist shaking at the world.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times here, and probably will again when it comes to other albums released in this era, how music it was a changin’ around this time. The bands that I had grown up with had changed their own style, mostly not for the better, though I continued to listen to them and their albums. But I was also discovering other bands who were coming into their own and releasing albums that became iconic once they had had time to grow on their audience. And I firmly believe that Ixnay on the Hombre is one of those albums. Smash had broken the band worldwide, and future releases Americana and Conspiracy of One perpetuated their popularity and genre hopping ability. But here on Ixnay on the Hombre is where the band really proved that it could cross thread between an alternative styled post modern punk that drew from the fast paced short styled hard hitting lyrical songs with the commercial popularity that saw radio airplay dominated and album sales climb, all the while creating a fan base that crossed over into several different eras.
All of that is a mouthful, and perhaps over-exclaims or complicates just what this album is able to achieve. And, of course, there will be people who will disagree. But I find everything about this album to be top shelf. If you want thoughtful lyrics banging on about topics that were at the hearts of the bands target audience at the time of its release, you’ve got it. C’mon – the meaning of life, hating school, life and death, positive thoughts on being alive…. Its all there in the lyrical outtake. All of this pumped along by terrific music driven by the high velocity guitars and held together by that cranking rhythm of bass and drums, and vocals that encourage you to sing along at the top of your voice.

Everything about this album works. It gets you moving, it gets the blood pumping. You can listen to it at home in your armchair, you can crank it at a party to get it livened up. For me there were some other brilliant albums released in 1997. This one still remains near the top of the list of those releases. It’s the album that to me proved that The Offspring was not a one-hit wonder, it was a band that was here for the long term and had the skill, talent and ability to make it a long term contribution. History has proven that to be the case, and having revisited this album a lot over the past week to celebrate its 25th anniversary, I’m back again for the long haul.